It’s A Gougère – Not a ‘Cheese Puff’!

When I try a food I haven’t experienced before and decide that I like it enough to try making it at home, I research its origin and try to imagine myself in the kitchen of a chef from that region and what might be going through their mind as they prepare the dish.

The first time I experienced the savory, creamy beauty of a Gruyère cheese Gougère, was in Paris, France.  Maybe it was actually being in France where the Gougère is said to have originated, or perhaps it was the accompanying French Vouvray wine I was sampling at the time, in either event, I was decidedly captivated by the light, airy, crispy and cheesy yumminess.  (Yes, yumminess is a word.  I actually looked it up!)

They are the perfect, ‘pop-able’ appetizer and very easy to make.  Your family and guests will love them!

The Enlightenment, Chapter 14 “… Meda placed a sampling of the peppers on her plate and looked at the other dish, curiously.  “What are those?  Is that bread?”

Tori grinned and replied, “Those are called Gougères but you may have also heard them called ‘Pâté à Choux.’  They’re like a pastry but they’re more on the savory side.  I added shredded Gruyère cheese to give them a little creaminess.”

Meda bit into one of the Gougères, chewed and then looked at the remaining half of the pastry still in her hand with a surprised look on her face.  “Oh my goodness!  I don’t think I’ve ever had anything like this before.  It’s so light and airy and yet creamy like you said.  It’s wonderful!”

“See?  I was right! Man, I wish I could try one of those!” Karla said, wistfully as she watched her mother eat the remainder of the Gougère in her hand….”

Gruyère cheese Gougères

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cups of water
• 1 stick of unsalted butter, cut into cubes
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 ½ cups of flour
• 8 large eggs, beaten
• 1 cup shredded Gruyère cheese

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

2) In a large saucepan, combine the water, butter, sugar and salt, bringing it to a boil.

3) Reduce heat to medium and add the flour all at once, stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon until the dough pulls away from the sides of the pan.  Remove pan from heat.

4) Add the beaten eggs to the dough in small batches, stirring thoroughly in between each addition, until eggs are fully incorporated and a thick, glossy pastry dough remains.

5) Transfer the dough to a piping bag fitted with a ½ inch tip and pipe 1 ½ inch mounds of the dough onto the parchment paper, one inch apart.

6) Sprinkle each mound of dough with the shredded Gruyère cheese.

7) Bake the Gougères in the oven for thirty minutes, until browned and puffed.